In The News

Is It Time To Take Highways Out Of Cities? Forbes, Nov. 21, 2019 - As we debate the future of the interstate highway system in light of advances in smart infrastructure and autonomous and electric vehicles, it’s worth considering whether some portions of the system should be removed, especially urban portions that are underused or harmful to the vitality of cities.

The future of autonomous delivery may be unfolding in an unlikely place: Suburban Houston The Washington Postm 11/13/19 - On the muggy streets of suburban Houston, amid McMansions, bright green lawns and stately oak trees, a futuristic race is quietly afoot. The contestants are not people but late-model Toyota Priuses outfitted with an array of sophisticated sensors. Despite fierce competition and unending pressure to perform, the nearly silent electric vehicles do not speed. They move cautiously, rigorously following traffic laws and never topping 25 mph.

The Changing Demographics of America's Suburbs CityLab, Nov. 7, 2019 = A great deal of attention has been paid to the revitalization of cities and urban areas, and the decline of rural communities. In fact, the very idea of a growing divide between urban and rural America has become a defining narrative of our time. But what about the suburbs? A majority of Americans live in them, after all.

The Particular Creativity of Dense Urban Neighborhoods CityLab, Nov. 1, 2019 - A new study finds evidence that Jane Jacobs was right about the dynamic and innovative qualities spurred by living in dense, urban neighborhoods.

Widespread EV Adoption Will Require Infrastructure, Education Government Technology, Oct. 28, 2019 - A report by the International Council on Clean Transportation looked at the growth of the electric vehicle market across the U.S. It found that adoption is strongest in urban centers and along the east and west coasts.

The Hyperloop and the Self-Driving Car Are Not the Future of Transportation The bus, the bike, and the elevator are. Slate, Oct. 19, 2019 - Thinking about the future of transportation from the United States can sometimes feel like thinking about swimwear in Svalbard: There is little to see here (and hasn’t been in some time).

The first map of America’s food supply chain is mind-boggling Fast Compan, 10/28/2019 - My team at the University of Illinois just developed the first high-resolution map of the U.S. food supply chain. Our map is a comprehensive snapshot of all food flows between counties in the U.S.—grains, fruits and vegetables, animal feed, and processed food items. To build the map, we brought together information from eight databases, including the Freight Analysis Framework from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which tracks where items are shipped around the country, and Port Trade data from the U.S. Census Bureau, which shows the international ports through which goods are traded.

States Find Gas Tax Increases Still Not Paying for Infrastructure Funding ForConstructionPros.com, Oct. 17, 2019 - For more than 25 years, the Federal government has let the Highway Trust Fund, the source of money for Federal infrastructure projects, lose it's purchasing power. That's because the gas tax has been stuck at 18.4 cents per gallon for gasoline and 24.4 cents for diesel fuel since 1993.While construction costs have increased 125% since 2003, funding has not.

After Cyclist Deaths, City Adjusts Traffic Lights to Slow Cars New York Times, Oct. 23, 2019 - New York is calibrating some signals to give bikes priority for green lights. Drivers say the change worsens traffic.

Governors eye regional gas tax to fund transition from fossil fuels Politico, Oct. 23, 2019 - Governors from several northeastern and mid-Atlantic states may have found a way to reduce pollution from cars and trucks and buck the Trump administration, which is trying to weaken auto emissions standards and gut efforts to curb climate change.